For more information about the Brock Family Perinatal Diagnostic Center, call 703-504-7868.

The Brock Family Perinatal Diagnostic Center (PDC) provides specialized care for pregnancies that are at risk for maternal, fetal or obstetric complications. Our maternal-fetal medicine specialists, known as perinatologists, work as a team with our staff of expert perinatal nurses. Together, they assist obstetricians or nurse-midwives by offering specialized services and compassionate care to mothers and their unborn babies, from pre-pregnancy counseling through delivery. The center uses state-of-the-art technology in a comfortable and private setting to assist:

• Prospective parents seeking genetic counseling and/or genetic testing,
• Pregnant women who need comprehensive diagnostic tests to determine the health of their babies, and
• Women whose pregnancies are considered high risk.

What makes a pregnancy high risk?
A women’s pregnancy may be considered high risk because of a pre-existing condition such as diabetes or hypertension. Older mothers and women with multiple pregnancies are also considered high risk. Some women are healthy when they become pregnant but experience complications caused by pregnancy. Some parents pass on a genetic disorder and develop a baby with an inherited or growth abnormality. The staff at the Perinatal Diagnostic Center works with high-risk mothers and their primary obstetrician or nurse-midwife to monitor the health of both mother and baby. The staff’s goal is to keep risk levels as low as possible and work toward the birth of a healthy baby. Specialized services include:

• High-risk obstetric consultations
• Level II obstetric ultrasound
• Genetic counseling/pre-pregnancy
• Counseling
• Genetic amniocentesis
• Prenatal diagnostic procedures
• Antepartum testing
• Nonstress testing
• Biophysical profile
• High-risk inpatient consultations
• In-utero fetal procedures
• Fetal blood sampling
• Fetal transfusion

Genetic counseling and comprehensive diagnostic testing
Even before becoming pregnant, prospective parents can be referred to the Perinatal Diagnostic Center to discuss the implications of age, complications in previous pregnancies or current health problems. Patients with a family history of genetic complications can discuss personalized prenatal options, and diagnostic procedures, and receive specialized support throughout their pregnancies.

Unexpected complications that require additional diagnostic procedures can occur during pregnancy. These tests can evaluate the health of both mother and baby even during the first trimester. The Perinatal Diagnostic Center offers the most recent approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of obstetrical problems.